Introduction
The practice of teaching requires appropriate and ongoing training. Being a tenured member of staff in a school does not mean closing your books and getting comfortable with your cultural, pedagogical or methodological background. Quite the opposite. Continuous practice is a way of improving, updating, and studying new ways of offering increasingly inclusive, up-to-date and, above all, effective teaching. For example, the same curriculum and the same book for a different year group, as we know, may have an entirely different learning outcome, because each student is unique and so are the group dynamics.
The teaching of classical culture in Spain, according to the Ley Orgánica 3/2020, begins (optionally) in the first year of the E.S.O. (Compulsory Secondary Education) (BOE, no. 340) at the age of 12, whereas pupils start to learn Latin, if chosen, in the fourth year of the E.S.O (Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 2013 n. 295). Ancient Greek can be studied only from the first year of the Bachillerato.
Each student, through the various subjects, has skills that they have to achieve. To facilitate this task, nowadays there are various publishing houses that offer tested manuals for teaching various subjects. Usually, therefore, a teacher opts for a textbook on classical culture, Latin language and Ancient Greek language where the programme is well defined, structured and sequential. However, the teacher must be able to integrate the lesson, teaching unit or teaching proposal with other materials, modifying, simplifying materials taken perhaps from other books or multimedia materials, etc., or otherwise has to create them. How often do we want to give a different focus to the lesson by concentrating on other elements and topics and have to create materials from scratch that we can put into practice during the lesson? This is nothing new for teachers. Sometimes, however, that wish to do something new, different or with an alternative slant is not always in line with the teacher's skills or experience.
Objectives
The objective of this study is to present a course on developing a teaching proposal provided by the CEFIRE centre (a core part of the Spanish Ministry of Education) and to show how the course was proposed, its development and the participation of the teachers who took part in it in order to understand, from a qualitative point of view, how materials were created for a teaching proposal (from scratch) to be used in secondary schools.
The study will firstly present the training process for a teacher in Spain, analyse some of the didactic contents of teaching qualification courses and, secondly, present the CEFIRE and the course Diseño y creación de propuestas didácticas para Latín y Cultura Clásica held in the second quarter of 2021. The study will illustrate both the theory section used to refresh some notions to teachers and also the practical part, which will entail creating content for a teaching proposal.
Teacher training in Spain
The ongoing training of teachers throughout their career and professional development is reflected well in literature (Escudero, Reference Escudero Muñoz, Escudero and Gómez2006; Wei et al., Reference Wei, Darling-Hammond and Adamson2010) in order to ensure that better teaching can always be offered in daily practice through the acquisition of new pedagogical skills and techniques.
According to the OECD (1998), there are various objectives that can be developed through lifelong learning such as:
to update an individual's knowledge of a subject in the light of recent advances in the area
to update an individual's skills, attitudes and approaches in the light of the development of new teaching techniques and objectives, new circumstances and new educational research
to enable schools to develop and apply new strategies concerning the curriculum and other aspects of teaching practice.
Continuing professional development in the educational field enables teachers to keep up with the latest methodologies, approaches, and techniques to be used in classroom teaching. Teachers of classical languages in Spain usually have a humanistic background (a degree in humanistic studies, classical philology, archaeology, etc.) and must have completed a Master's degree in secondary education in order to satisfy the pedagogical requirements for teaching in secondary schools (ESO and Bachillerato).
The structure of the Master's degree is divided into three parts: a generic module, a specific module, and an internship. The generic module usually includes pedagogical subjects that are also present in all the máster de secundaria of other specialisations (e.g. mathematics, art, physics). These subjects are usually:
Psicología de la educación
Atención a la diversidad en educación
Organización e historia del sistema educativo
Orientación educativa (tutorial y familiar)
Sociología de la educación (Guichard, Reference Universidad de Salamanca2020).
In the specific module you will find the subjects related to the chosen specialisation. See here the subjects offered at the University of Salamanca concerning the specialisation in the teaching of classical languages:
Análisis lingüístico de textos clásicos
Análisis literario de textos clásicos
Metodología y recursos para la enseñanza de las lenguas y cultura clásicas
Didáctica de la especialidad de latín y griego
Innovación docente: textos e imágenes del mundo antiguo para la educación del s. XXI
Iniciación a la investigación educativa: contenidos transversales
Historia de la disciplina y de la enseñanza del griego y el latín.
During the Master's course, students are also required to complete two internships in an educational centre and submit a thesis at the end of the course. This is the end of the compulsory training cycle for anyone wishing to teach in public or private schools in Spain.
However, in order to be able to work as a permanent teacher in Spain, there is a national acceptance process called Oposición, which provides a number of places that vary according to the needs of the period. For the subjects of Latin and Ancient Greek, candidates must pass three tests. First of all, candidates must pass a theoretical test. Candidates have to study 65 topics. Only five topics will be extracted and of these five, each candidate can choose one and write about it. The second test involves translating a text from the classical language into Spanish and commenting on a literature text. Once these first and second tests have been passed, the candidate will have to present a teaching programme to the board for an academic course in a classical language. Once this test has been passed, each Autonomous Community will count the points obtained and will also add up any other points relating to the various qualifications submitted, such as, for example, the language level of a foreign language, any other studies, such as Masters, Doctorates, etc. Teachers who pass the Oposición will be allocated a permanent teaching post at a public secondary school.
It must be noted that not all universities offer the Máster de secundaria with a specialisation in the teaching of Latin and/or Ancient Greek. In actual fact, there are only nine universities that include this Master's DegreeFootnote 2. The courses within the specialisation are not all the same and often have a different name.
Courses on the creation of teaching materials
A point of interest for this study is to see what courses are offered on Latin teaching, especially in terms of the production of teaching materials. Table 1 below sets out the courses included in the Máster de Secundaria that focus on the elaboration of teaching materials. The university, course name and specimen are included.
Table 1: Universities and subjects
The information available is through the teacher's guide, i.e. the syllabus of each subject. It is clear that the course also focuses on the production, creation and elaboration of teaching materials, units and educational proposals. In general, in addition to the subjects listed above, other subjects contribute to the training of future classical language teachers to develop various skills such as, for example:
Planning, developing and evaluating the teaching and learning process.
Specifying the curriculum to be implemented in a teaching centre.
Designing and developing learning spaces with a focus on equity, emotional education and values, equal rights and opportunities in terms of gender, education for citizenship and respect for human rights that facilitate life in society, decision-making and building a future.
Being aware of the processes of interaction and communication in the classroom.
Planning and carrying out formal and non-formal activities.
Being aware of the legislation and the institutional organisation of the education system.
Promoting a critical, reflective and entrepreneurial spirit.
Developing students’ learning skills (Moreno Verdejo, Reference Moreno Verdejo2021-2022).
Those are not exhaustive as there are in fact others; we have included, in our opinion, the most significant ones.
CEFIRE
Before starting the course Diseño y creación de propuestas didácticas para Latín y Cultura Clásica, the director of the CEFIRE Centre for Classical Studies in Alicante, researcher and university lecturer at the University of Alicante, Carlos Goñi Buil, had contacted me a few months earlier to discuss how to improve the preparation of teachers from the point of view of the creation of materials. CEFIRE is the Centre for Training, Innovation and Educational Resources for the Valencian Community (Spain), an educational administration for the continuing training of non-university teaching staff (Generalitat Valenciana, 1997). The objective of CEFIRE is to promote the training of teachers as professionals, required by the current educational system in all the fundamental aspects (Generalitat Valenciana, 1997: Art. 1.2) in different areas such as methodology, evaluation, research activity, educational guidance, among others. In addition, CEFIRE, as mentioned in Decree 231/1997, has several functions, such as: selecting, organising, disseminating, coordinating, and evaluating courses; contributing to teacher training and innovative experiences; encouraging teamwork and teacher participation (Generalitat Valenciana, 1997: Art. 9). Each year CEFIRE offers multiple activities for primary and secondary teachers in the Valencian Community.
There are different types of education/training within CEFIRE. They are divided into 1) Vocational Education, 2) Science, Technology and Mathematics, 3) Inclusive Education, 4) Early Childhood Education, 5) Humanities and Social Sciences, 6) Multilingualism and 7) Artistic-Expressive. According to Decree-Law 65/2012, there are only three categories of participants in the courses offered by CEFIRE: teachers and technical staff working in educational centres other than universities and those who have completed a Máster de Secundaria. CEFIRE offers various activities such as: courses, training centres, conferences, seminars, working groups, good practice workshops, training courses in companies. The regulations require a minimum number of hours for each activity (see Table 2):
Table 2: Number of hours (Generalitat Valenciana - Conselleria de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, 2022).
Each activity specifies the objectives, content and the intended recipients, in order to provide teachers with more information.
Courses
CEFIRE proposed that I teach a course in 2020, which would then go on to be called DPLCC. The previous year I had already taught another, more specific, course entitled ‘Latín elemental’ (for primary students), which was very successful. The idea of the second course stems from the need to further prepare teachers working in the school world by supporting them a little more in relation to their creation of teaching materials.
A very significant barrier when it comes to teaching in secondary schools is time. In between normal school pensum, administrative activities, lesson preparation, correcting homework and evaluations (not to mention meetings and parent-teacher meetings), teachers have very little time to devote to creating materials. Published in Spanish, however, there are several materials for secondary schools. All of these materials are very good and widely used and adopted in the various courses. In relation to the courses offered by CEFIRE, in recent years, for the classical world, one can find:
Historical recreation and experimental archaeology as a resource for the teaching of Classical Civilisation
Heritage as a teaching resource
Active Ancient Greek and Latin
Greek and Latin literature: new pedagogigal perspectives
The use of the digital corpus for teaching Latin
Living history and archaeology for teaching Classics.
The DPLCC course that has been created ad hoc for CEFIRE aims at reviewing some theoretical aspects that are important for language teaching and education in general, but also at proposing a practical section where teachers are involved in creating new texts and materials. This allows us to reflect on a number of issues at the time of creating and developing teaching proposals.
Participants
The total number of participants in the course was 34. Only 22 completed the compulsory theory section before proceeding to the practical part. Ultimately, only 12 completed the practical section.
Those who successfully completed the practical section also received the CEFIRE certificate of participation. Every teacher is obliged to complete a specific number of courses per year.
Methodology
The DPLCC course was divided into two parts: (1) theory and (2) practical. The theoretical section covered six topics:
Methodologies for teaching classical language and culture
Motivation in learning and teaching
Teaching and playing
Vocabulary and structures
Skills
Collaboration and cooperation
Time constraints meant that it was not possible to present a theory section that covered all the main elements of classical language teaching and of valid teaching in general. The choice of proposing some of these topics is mainly to emphasise the methodologies, the part of playful teaching with the creation of exercises and different proposals through collaboration and cooperation. We would also like to point out that sometimes the Máster de secundaria or before that the CAP (Certificado de Aptitud Pedagógica) had been developed several years ago, sometimes even more than 20 years ago; therefore, even a short review is helpful in refreshing some important concepts.
THEORETICAL SECTION
Set out below are some concepts that we felt were important for reviewing and developing the teaching proposal.
a. Methodologies
In the first part of the theory section, we focused on methodologies for teaching classical language and culture. Indeed, in an ever-changing world, teachers and institutions increasingly need to be able to offer holistic, experiential and authentic education in order to bring students closer to the various curricular areas. Practical experience, research in didactics and different resources are some of the elements that are required in order to be able to immediately focus the didactics on the various educational phases. To talk about didactics and the teaching of Latin and classical culture, it is important to focus on the importance of the approaches and methods used in the classroom. Classical language teaching has had a very long tradition throughout history. Together with new technologies, teaching has benefitted from numerous aids to improve over time and to respond to the needs of an ever-changing society and educational model. In language teaching, the term approach defines the ground rules, the philosophy and basic theories that support didactic organisation and planning, and that support teachers’ guidance on how to act. The approach, therefore, outlines goals and objectives and generates methodologies for their implementation. The methods are the practical proposals of the approaches, as well as their implementation; and, consequently, they offer some forms of applying didactics in various educational fields and situations. In language teaching, approaches are usually organised into three categories: deductive approach, inductive approach and humanistic-affective approach.
b. Motivation
When a teacher approaches a new topic in class, we need to emphasise how to present it in such a way that students find it interesting and useful. Above all, students need to be motivated so that they are curious to find out more and are also prepared to learn and listen. Talking about motivation is essential to create a relationship, a teacher-student-subject connection. Motivation can be defined as ‘the enjoyment of school learning characterized by a mastery orientation; curiosity; persistence; task-endogeny; and the learning of challenging, difficult, and novel tasks’ (Gottfried, Reference Gottfried1990, p. 525, cited in Lai, Reference Lai2011, p. 5).
Indeed, motivation can have several sources. Duty is when there is a feeling that ‘it must be done'. A student must not contradict the teacher's opinion. There is no acquisition here, because what is done and learned will not be long-term, but only ‘useful’ to pass a test, an examination, and the student will go on to forget what has been learned. Need is a motivation linked to an individual's need, such as learning English because a person has moved to Liverpool. The motivation is to learn in order to integrate with a group, for example, or the need to achieve a specific grade in biology in order to study medicine. Pleasure is finding satisfaction in learning Latin, classical culture or Ancient Greek and is also closely related to the techniques and methodologies used by teachers. This type of motivation refers to engagement in a behaviour that is intrinsically satisfying or pleasurable.
Proximity is one of the main elements of connecting with students: this is essential to create and maintain contact with them and to create trust; and secondly, cooperative learning has a positive effect on student motivation.
It is also advisable to consider the expectation-value theory that ‘describes motivation as being influenced by the relative value of a task along with the probability of success in completing that task’ (Wery & Thomson, Reference Wery and Thomson2013, p. 103 cited in Eccles et al., Reference Eccles, Adler, Futterman, Godd, Kaczala, Meece, Migley and Spence1983). Put simply, motivation and success are influenced by the student's self-perception of what to do; and in self-efficacy, the belief in a student's ability to perform specific tasks. These two are inevitably influenced by previous experiences and emotional states.
Together with motivation, meaningful learning has a great impact on education. In his studies, Ausubel (Reference Ausubel1963) focuses on meaningful learning, learning seen as valuable, with a real purpose, in a wide variety of contexts.
c. Learning and playing
Teaching languages through play is part of the humanistic-affective approach. Play creates an ideal and peaceful environment where discovery and learning can take place and is a meaningful type of learning, where the focus is on the learner in their environment and cultural dimension. This approach places an emphasis on the teacher-student relationship, the participation of the latter, as well as the interest in the world around the individual (the social and intercultural element). In this way, teaching is not hindered by anxiety or stress but instead, via the different humanistic methods, proposes a place of learning where there is serenity and tranquillity, ideal moments for learning, thus eliminating the emotional filter that would otherwise block learning. The affective filter is based on Krashen's theory (Reference Krashen1982, Reference Krashen and Terrell1984): in language learning it is seen as an element of a virtual and imaginary ‘filter’, which corresponds to certain chemical stimuli that favour memorisation when one is in a state of tranquillity and serenity or, in the opposite cases, hinder or block memorisation when one is in a state of stress, anxiety or fear.
Teaching language in a playful way is characterised by the use of games. However, it is necessary to distinguish between free play and didactic play, with the latter being organised and directed by a teacher within an educational context. If the former is, as the word says, free, it is not subject to educational or training purposes, but at the same time is characterised by leisure and liberation, as well as socialisation. Educational play has a purpose beyond the game itself. It is not a game per se, but a ‘mediator’ of concepts (Caon, Reference Caon2006, p. 3). The playful activity is basically simple and fun, has no educational purpose or objective, and is completely free and spontaneous. These activities make the participant active and allow them to develop cognitive skills. Didactic play, on the other hand, can also be spontaneous and leave the child (and the adult) free, but it involves having a goal to be achieved. Any game could be considered educational, but the purpose, context and activities proposed in a given game can make the difference between free play and an educational game.
However, the play itself is not enough to teach a foreign language. A training course/programme has to be built up that includes as its core the use of playful activities. In order to learn a foreign language, playful activities must respond to the achievement of certain goals that can or must be achieved. For example, with regard to educational planning, the teacher has to prepare a class where the objectives must always be clear, as well as the use of tools, methodology or evaluation, among other aspects. In this respect, it is useful to consider the different forms of play in order to understand how to use them within an educational activity. The teaching of a language, through playful activities, is achieved relying on a number of different modalities using various tools, materials, places and elements with the aim of achieving a common goal: a fun way of teaching that offers a meaningful and alternative approach to language, stimulating various types of intelligence and allowing a natural approach, thus aiming at meaningful learning and emphasising the need for communication, as well as promoting ‘biculturalism’ (Lombardo, Reference Lombardo2006).
d. Cooperative learning
Co-operative learning is a practical teaching style carried out in small groups. Groups are formed in a way that a common result can be achieved through the members. According to Johnson and Johnson (Reference Johnson and Johnson1994), there are advantages to using cooperative learning; in particular, there is an increase in language acquisition, the use of critical thinking, as well as the motivation to carry out activities and participation; similarly, student satisfaction with learning is also higher. In addition, cooperative learning promotes relationships between classmates and increases the level of self-esteem, fosters a better attitude in students towards the institution, increases the propensity to share information, and opens up students to the possibility of considering new points of view. It also facilitates development and improves oral communication. Giving importance to cooperative learning is crucial because it helps students and children to interact with each other. Children learn by helping others with different tasks, as well as having a positive attitude towards achieving a specific common goal whilst having fun.
According to Comoglio (Reference Comoglio1996), co-operative learning means talking about the presence of five specific elements: 1. Distributed leadership; 2. Heterogeneous groups; 3. Positive interdependence; 4. Acquisition of social skills; and 5. Group autonomy.
From an educational point of view, students can work together to create a game that involves the participation of everyone. Take, for example, board games such as a Roman Monopoly. Creating a game involves a group decision on the subject, rules and instructions, as well as taking into account the difficulties to be overcome in order to complete the game, the division of tasks, etc. One activity we propose is to leave the students free, and divided into small groups, when creating a game activity relating to the topics seen in class, whether in grammar or classical culture. The important thing is the cooperation of the students and achieving a goal together. The teacher will always have the task of being a bridge, a support, a guide and a facilitator.
e. Hands-on Learning
Hands-on Learning refers to a practical learning methodology. This methodology is reminiscent of Froebel's ‘learning by doing'. Practical learning focuses on the manipulation of objects. The abstract part is also better understood through practice.
Practical learning is generally associated with more scientific subjects such as biology or chemistry (Jazwa, Reference Jazwa2017: 1), but also, of course, to more artistic themes. Take, for example, the archaeological sciences (Clarkson & Shipton, Reference Clarkson and Shipton2015), where we learn through excavations. Jazwa, for example, experimented with this in his classroom by making mud bricks. Some objectives of this methodology, according to Jazwa (Reference Jazwa2017: 2), are: 1. Teach and reinforce essential research skills. 2. Foster practical, project-driven group work opportunities in which all students share equal responsibilities. 3. Provide a faithful recreation of Ancient Greek architecture and construction.
In relation to classical languages and cultures, the hands-on learning methodology is increasingly present. For example, in total immersion where a student can live like a Greek or a Roman. These are some of the activities that can be carried out in the classroom. Ad hoc scenes can also be created to implement some elements of classical culture. The latter are also often used to bring other people closer to classical culture and to promote this great cultural heritage, even among non-experts.
PRACTICAL SECTION
The second part of the study was divided into five more sections, so that a practical part could be presented each week, thus completing the teaching proposal.
The practical part aims to create a didactic proposal on a common theme: water. The need to include a common theme for all responds to the need to be able to reflect on the proposed entries and compare them. Having a common theme also allows to see the variations created by teachers and how they have approached the theme.
Here we present the outline required by the course to complete the second practical part.
1st part
Learning objectives
Basic and general skills
Include a picture for the presentation of the educational proposal
Previous knowledge
Create a text to introduce the role of water in classical culture. You may include 1/3 of images.
2nd part
Linguistic part: create an exercise with words derived from Latin (and ancient Greek, if you want) that have a relationship with water.
Create a text to present some buildings related to water. You can include some pictures.
3rd part
Linguistic part: create a short text in Spanish dealing with the theme of water, including some parts in Latin. The Latin part must contain the following prepositions: prope, circum, sub, super, in, pro, ad, e.
Linguistic part: create a playful exercise to practise the prepositions: prope, circum, sub, super, in, pro, ad, e.
Gods, myths and water. Adapt a myth or create a presentation of one or more gods that has a connection with water. You can include some pictures.
4th part
Present a Mediterranean city or country in Latin using the verb ‘to be’ (sum) + ablative. Include a historical map of the Roman Empire where the mentioned places are located.
Create an exercise to practise the sum + ablative verb, using some of the (cultural/lexical) elements seen above.
5th part
Evaluation: For each of the proposed activities, include the evaluation method according to the Valencian Community Plan.
Results
The practical section involved the creation of materials and texts for the teaching proposal. As mentioned earlier, there were 12 participants in total (s = trainee). Table 3 below sets out an outline of the activities created for each trainee and then comments on the various parts.
Table 3: Activities
From the diagram it can be seen that there are various activities that have been created for this teaching proposal. The trainees, as we shall see, took their cue from the playful language part and created different activities and texts following the given requests.
Discussion
a. Searching for information
A frequently used activity is searching for information that students have to put into practice. Knowing how to use IT tools and how to search (and therefore control and select information) is a skill that students need to acquire and hone. It may seem a simple activity to create, a bit ‘lazy’ if you like, but if well created and developed it can be very productive. For example, a trainee proposes to research some terms by writing down their meaning:
Significat
Fluvial
Naumáquia
Aqüeducte
Aquari
An alternative is to research the explanation of words such as: 1. litoral, 2. fuvial, 3. ribera, 4. orilla (S1). S3 presents this activity focusing on the etymological research of terms: Gobernar, Sentina and A palo seco.
Another trainee proposes an exercise where the student has to find information about the Baths of Caracalla (S1):
Busca informacio sobre les Termes de Caracalla i prepara una infografa o un lapbook explicatiu i molt visual.
Or S3 presents an exercise where students have to search the internet to find connections with water and Greek and Roman mythology.
b. Text comprehension
For text comprehension, open questions or T and F questions were usually chosen. It is interesting to see that some people have included open questions at the beginning of the teaching proposal to stimulate the students’ attention to the new topic and also to gauge their previous knowledge about it.
For example, S4 proposes an initial reflection:
1. Why do you think water has been and is so important for human beings?
2. How did the Romans manage water?
3. Which Greco-Roman gods and myths do you know about water?
With regard to text comprehension, S9 first presents the newly created text on Hilas and Náyades and then presents some true and false questions:
1. Hylas was a king who fought against Hercules.
2. Hercules spared the life of King Thiodamant in exchange for taking his son.
3. Hylas became one of the Argonauts thanks to his knowledge of navigation.
4. Hercules fell in love with the young Hylas.
Other times, the questions are open-ended, as in the case of S4, who creates the text of Hero and Leandro from scratch and presents some questions, for example:
1. Why couldn't young people be together?
2. What secret pact had the protagonists made?
3. Do you know of any other love story where the characters end up the same way?
S10, for example, also proposes some questions for oral reflection:
1. How was the water brought to the hot springs?
2. What were the hot springs?
3. Do hot springs remind you of a place to relax today?
S5 presents the description of a photo in Latin. The student has to check whether the sentences are True or False.
1.in caelo nubes sunt.
2.prope nautam navis est.
3.nauta est procul a nave.
4.pro litore petrae sunt.
5.sub terra arca est.
c. Exercises in associating words, texts and pictures.
Among the proposals, there were several exercises on the association of words, texts and images in Spanish and Latin. For example, S2 presents various words in Spanish to be associated with images depicting those exact elements.
This sounds like a simple exercise, but this one is intended to focus on the Spanish understanding of even terms that are less commonly used today and to reflect on the diversity of words that are etymologically derived from Latin aqua. S2, on the other hand, proposes the association between the derived word, the definition and the image. Another exercise presented by S4 is the correspondence between syntagmatic and Latin translation:
1. prope vestibuluma. en el atrio
2. per compluviumb. alrededor del atrio
3. in atrioc. con columnas
4. ad impluviumd. cerca del vestíbulo
5. circum atriume. hacia el impluvio
6. cum columnisf. por el compluvio
Another association exercise presented includes some derivations and words in Spanish. Given the different words in Latin, they must be associated with the Spanish words (S6):
fluit, rivus, navis, pontem, ripa, insula
superfluo y fluvial:
rival y deriva:
pontífice y Pontevedra:
navegar y naufragio:
península e insulina:
ribera y arribar:
S9 presents a translation exercise involving the Spanish language and the co-official language of the autonomous community (Valencian) (see Table 4):
Table 4: Translation exercise.
d. Fill in the gaps
The cloze exercise was used a lot, usually including the use of a Latin word or sometimes a word in L1, therefore referred not only to the linguistic part but also to the cultural and comprehension part. In an exercise presented by S1, the student must include prepositions. See below an extract:
in pictura quinque homines et unam feram videmus.
dextra pictura, ______ arborem pastor Faustulus est.
_____ Faustulum ramus et herbae sunt.
in medio pictura, sunt duo gemini ______ ungulas lupae.
S2 uses three columns: the first with the picture, the second with the Latin inscription and the third with the Spanish inscription, but in both there is a blank space to be filled in:
Picture of the river __________ flumen
‘Cerca del_______’
S4 presents the reading of a text and an exercise where the student has to complete each blank space with a word. See two extracts below:
1. La palabra acueducto procede de los términos latinos ____________ y ____________ .
2. El proceso de purificación del agua consistía en _________ .
e. Use of technology
Although we are nowadays immersed in a technological and digital world, it is sometimes difficult to create exercises with technology because teachers do not necessarily have the skills or know the programs to create them. Only a few presented some activities with technology. Those who did included an external link to access the web page with the related activity, or, like S11, asked students to compose a text via WhatsApp asking Leandro not to surf on that particular day because there is bad weather. S2 created a short test using Kahoot. Others created memory games (vocabulary - vocabulary or vocabulary - image).
f. Other activities
An activity taken up by more than one trainee (S7, S8 and S9) is the memory game. In addition, some (S2, S6 and S9) created or inserted memes within the teaching proposal. The trainees used the crossword in a well-contextualised way and especially through the Spanish definition and the Latin term to be researched; in fact, this exercise requires several skills.
g. Texts
A very positive note was the reconstruction of the texts (in Spanish or Valencian language). The texts presented are well structured and written. They are adapted to the chosen target group (high school students, approximately 12/14 years old).
h. Use of images
The trainees made use of various images, both to accompany the texts they created and for the different activities to be carried out, such as the relationship between words and images. It was noted, in some cases, that the quality of the images was not good enough. In this case, trainees who have inserted images of a lower quality should be more careful, because the quality of the image is also important for carrying out the exercise, should they be required to complete it by following the image or simply reading the content on it. In these cases, no attention was paid to the technical characteristics of the inserted images.
i. Graphics
The various parts of the teaching proposal did not have a particular format. Different fonts, characters and tables were used, but there was no graphic sensitivity so that the pages created could be appealing to a teenage audience. On the contrary, from the graphic and lettering choices made, it appears that in some cases there was a lack of sensitivity and reflection on the final output of the teaching proposal. While the content was of good quality, the graphic representation was in most cases mediocre. This can be the result of a lack of graphic preparation in common writing and layout programmes (even free ones). In fact, it was noted that in many teaching proposals very imaginative lettering was chosen, which however detracts from the professional character of the completed work.
Timing
The theory section lasted four weeks and the practical part five weeks. In total, the course lasted nine weeks. For the presentation of the second part, trainees had the possibility to hand in their papers up to two weeks after the course deadline.
Evaluation
CEFIRE issues certificates for the completion of the course. The course holder plans the course itself and the evaluation method for awarding the certificate. In this case, the minimum requirements were:
1. Passing the theory section with a minimum score of 50/100
2. Elaboration/creation of materials for the formation of a teaching proposal with positive evaluation.
For the theory part on the Moodle platform there were seven multiple-choice tests.
Conclusions
Nowadays, a teacher's work is the result of years of study, practice and continuing training. Experience helps improvement, as does the correct training and preparation of a teacher. The current system ensures that a teacher has adequate training before being able to perform this function in education. This training concerns, first and foremost, the completion of higher university studies in a specific field such as, for example, a degree in classical philology, a degree in humanities, or a degree in linguistics or history. Secondly, the qualification is obtained by studying and obtaining a specific Master's Degree (máster de secundaria). Finally, passing a national examination (Oposición) will make it possible, to all intents and purposes, to carry out the task in a public context and for an indefinite period.
The preparation within the máster del secundaria, although it may have some different subjects from one university to another, has, in general, the same contents concerning, precisely, the educational and specific pedagogical preparation required for a study plan, for example, the didactic preparation in the classical field. It is indeed important and fundamental; however, the real core element is the part that will take place in the field, i.e., in a school. This experience is primarily carried out within the practicum proposed and compulsory within the Master's programme. This is where future teachers can learn and acquire new tools for their training.
A teacher of classical languages, as well as of other subjects, once they obtain their job, follow the school programme by achieving the objectives set for that particular subject, year and educational cycle. The job of the teacher, however, as we know, requires that their skills are always put to the test and that they continually make sure they are up to date with the latest news and teaching tools.
The CEFIRE centre was set up with the aim of providing teachers with training and refresher courses in a wide range of disciplines. These courses are free of charge and, upon the successful completion of the course, the learner receives a certificate of attendance which is useful for their own training and for the completion of mandatory annual training credits. CEFIRE offers various courses every year and there are many in the past in the classical field, including languages such as Latin and Greek, but also classical culture and new teaching methods in this field. The choice to attend one course or another is free and the teacher may decide to attend a course for their own personal interest, to want to improve in that specific field, even to learn new methodologies related to it.
One of the latest courses offered by the CEFIRE centre is DPLCC. The course is the result of reflection and above all of a need to offer teachers additional support in the creation of teaching proposals. It should be noted that for Latin language or classical culture lessons, teachers normally follow a textbook. Several manuals are offered by publishers and they are all valid. The order of the topics, the internal structure, the various texts studied and presented within them may change, but they all have the same objectives that reflect the objectives proposed by the Ministry of Education and that of the different autonomous communities in Spain.
The aim of the ad hoc course was to re-propose and refresh some elements of methodology and didactics of teaching classical languages at a high school level by reviewing some key points regarding techniques, activities and methodologies that could reinforce the work of the everyday teacher.
Having chosen the different points to be proposed that made up the theoretical part of the course, we then moved on to the practical part. It entailed the creation of teaching materials to complete a comprehensive teaching proposal with a single theme chosen by the course leader. The chosen theme was water. It was a very broad topic and could, in a way, give the teachers great opportunities to bring their creativity and imagination into play in the production of the materials.
The initial number of participants was 34. 22 of them successfully completed the theory section, but only 12 successfully completed the practical part. The practical part entailed creating different activities following an outline given by the course leader. There were several activities to be created and it required not only the competence to perform the required activity, but to create it trying to be creative and realising an activity that could be useful, expendable, feasible, but also original.
From the analysis of the activities created, it appears, firstly, that the texts created have a very good linguistic level, also from an adaptation point of view. Secondly, it was seen that students created various activities of different types using also some technological elements. One negative note that certainly emerged was probably the lack of training in graphics and technology, because the proposals delivered and created were definitely not graphically appealing to a teenage audience. One example is the choice of graphics, the particular font, the layout of the text, the choice of the sometimes low-quality images. Indeed, it is not just the content that has to be a good level, but also how it is presented, because if you want to make use of it, it is essential that it is of high quality. Nevertheless, a positive aspect is that these 12 trainees who finished the practical part developed a valid teaching proposal.
There were several proposals, although the theme was unique. Therefore, we also saw the richness and diversity that different teachers can bring to a classroom. I think this is an important reflection, because nowadays we need to exchange communication, to understand also the skills and competences of our colleagues in order to improve ourselves. Therefore, the fact of seeing the same theme seen through different activities of these texts and different images brings an immense richness to the classical world and education itself.
Although courses for the creation of teaching materials and in particular for the layout, the graphic proposal itself, are quite common even in online platforms, I would feel the need today to include them in university teaching programmes, especially as part of the máster de secundaria, a course that can give some more skills regarding the actual design layout and all those elements that then help a teacher to create and refine the product. This is to ensure that it is competitive not only in terms of content, but also aesthetically. Future courses in this field, therefore, could be developed around these more technical skills, so as to provide teachers with a greater range of tools.
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